Dr. Pablo Joaquin Alonso-Muruaga

Assistant Researcher for the National Research Council of Argentina (IGEBA-CONICET); Assistant Professor for the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

I was introduced to ichnology by my former professor of Historical Geology Dr. M. Gabriela Mángano, and by my undergraduate supervisor Dr. Luis Buatois at the University of Tucumán, Argentina. This prompted me to pursue a Ph.D. supervised by Dr. Buatois and Dr. Limarino from the University of Buenos Aires.
My research field is related to sedimentology, ichnology, and stratigraphy, mainly involving process-based sedimentology, trace fossil studies, and its integration into sedimentary facies analysis, in order to reconstruct ancient depositional environments and interpret their possible sequence stratigraphic framework.

Degrees: Ph.D. in Geological Sciences¹ (Universidad de Buenos Aires); Geologist² – (Universidad de Tucumán).

1- Doctoral Thesis: Sedimentología, Icnología e Estratigrafía de la Transgresión Postglacial del Carbonífero Superior en la Cuenca Paganzo y Áreas Relacionadas. Supervised by: Dr. Carlos O. Limarino and Dr. Luis A. Buatois

2- Undergrad Thesis: Análisis Paleoecológico de las Comunidades Marinas Bentónicas de la Fauna de Levipustula en la Formación Hoyada Verde, Sierra de Barreal, Provincia de San Juan. Supervised by: Dr. Gabriela A. Cisterna and Dr. Luis A. Buatois

Selected publications:

Alonso-Muruaga, P.J., Limarino, C.O.; Spalletti, L.A., Colombo  Piñol, F. 2018.  Depositional Settings and Evolution of a Fjord System During the Carboniferous Glaciation in Northwest Argentina. Sedimentary Geology, 369: 28-45.

Alonso-Muruaga P. J., Buatois, L.A. y Limarino, C. O. 2013. Ichnology of the Late Carboniferous Hoyada Verde Formation of Western Argentina: Exploring Postglacial Shallow-marine Ecosystems of Gondwana. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 369: 228–238

Alonso-Muruaga P.J., Buatois, L.A.; Mángano G.; Limarino, C.O. 2012. Ichnology of the Paganzo and Calingasta -Uspallata  Basins, Late Paleozoic of Western Argentina -a Review. In Netto, R. G.; Carmona, N.B. y Tognoli, F.M.W (Eds). Ichnology of Latin America – Selected Papers. Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontología, Monografías da Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontología, 196, p. 69-81

    

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Dr. Mariano Arregui

Postdoctoral researcher at YTEC/CONICET, Argentina

I worked from 2010 to 2015 at the Paleontological and Archaeological Heritage Office of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and during this time I developed my interest in vertebrate and invertebrate ichnology. Then, in 2015, I started my Ph.D. at CONICET (National Council for Scientific and Technical Research) and Y-TEC (a research and development company for the energy industry in Argentina). During this period, I improved my knowledge in sedimentology and ichnology at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, under the supervision of Dr Luis Buatois and Dra. Gabriela Mángano. In 2020, I defended my thesis and became a postdoctoral researcher at YTEC. During all these years working at YTEC, I have participated in and led several subsurface studies in different Argentinean-producing basins and also continued with vertebrate ichnology studies. My interests include vertebrate and invertebrate ichnology, sedimentology, petroleum geology, palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, basin analysis and sequence stratigraphy.

Doctoral Thesis: Ichnology of the Lajas Formation, (Middle Jurassic), Cuyo Group, Neuquén Basin

Supervisors: Dr. M. Gabriela Mángano and Dr. Luis Buatois

Selected publications:

Zanella, A., Ruiz, R., Varela, A.N., & Arregui, M.G. (2024). Trace fossils as mechanical discontinuities in shales, insight for the generation of bedding-parallel veins (BPV). Scientific Reports, 14(1), 12746.

Arregui, M.G., Giannoni, I.E., & Varela, A.N. (2023). Dominance of Phycosiphon incertum vs Zoophycos in shelf environment: example from the transgressive Palermo Aike black shale deposits of the Austral-Magallanes Basin, Argentina. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 155, 106384.

Arregui, M.G., & Rodríguez, E. (2022). Sedimentological and ichnological signatures from a fluvialdominated delta in subsurface: Lajas Formation, Middle Jurassic, Neuquén Basin, Argentina. Latin American Journal of Sedimentology and Basin Analysis, 29(2), 97

 

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Dr. Zain Belaústegui

Professor Lector at the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the University of Barcelona (Spain)

My main scientific interest is the ichnologic study (bioturbation and bioerosion) and the taphonomic analysis of marine, continental and transitional units (mainly from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic), emphasizing the implications of these studies for paleoecologic, paleoenvironmental and paleodepositional interpretations. Also interested in neoichnology.

I have a degree in Geology (2007) from the ‘Universidad Complutense de Madrid’ (Spain), a Master’s in Paleontology (2009) from the ‘Universitat de Barcelona’ and the ‘Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona’ (Spain), and a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences (2013) by the ‘Universitat de Barcelona’ with the thesis entitled: “Ichnologic and taphonomic study from the marine Miocene of El Camp de Tarragona Basin (NE Spain)” (Supervisor: Dr. Jordi M. de Gibert; Tutor: Prof. Jordi Martinell). I performed a formative stay at the University of Saskatchewan, under the supervision of Luis and Gabriela, during September and October 2010. Today, my current position is ‘Profesor Lector’ (partly equivalent to Lecturer) at the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the University of Barcelona (Spain).

Selected publications:

Belaústegui, Z.; Gibert, J.M. de (2013). Bow-shaped, concentrically laminated polychaete burrows: A Cylindrichnus concentricus ichnofabric from the Miocene of Tarragona, NE Spain. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology(381-382), 119 – 127

Beláustegui, Z.; Muñiz, F.; Mángano, M.G.; Buatois, L.; Domènech, R.; Martinell, J. (2016). Lepeichnus giberti igen. nov. isp. nov. from the upper Miocene of Lepe (Huelva, SW Spain): Evidence for its origin and development with proposal of a new concept, ichnogeny. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 452, 80 – 89 Belaústegui, Z.; Belaústegui, A. (2017). Modernist architecture in Barcelona reveals a new trace fossil from the Miocene of Montjuïc (NE Spain). Geologica Acta, 15(3), 169 – 186

  

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Dr. Noelia Carmona

President of the Association for Women Geologists

I completed my undergraduate biology degree at Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, in 2001. After that, I continued my education at Universidad de Buenos Aires, where I finished my Ph.D. studies in 2005. I did a post-doc in Tierra del Fuego, during 2006-2008, where I studied the ichnology of Tertiary deep marine rocks. In 2008, I got a permanent position at CONICET in Argentina, and since 2011, I am also an Adjunct Professor in the Geology Department at Universidad Nacional de Río Negro.

My main interests cover the ichnology of shallow marine environments (mostly from Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits), and also geobiological aspects in modern and ancient environments.

Ph.D. thesis: Carmona, N.B. 2005. Icnología del Mioceno marino en la Región del Golfo San Jorge. Tesis Doctoral, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. 250 pp.

Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois and Dr. Gabriela Mángano

Selected publications:

Paz, M., Mángano, M.G., Buatois, L.A., Desjardins, P.R., Minisini, D., Tomassini, F.G., Rodríguez, M.N., Pereira, E., Fantín, M., Parada, M.N. and Carmona, N.B., 2023. Environmental controls on trace-fossil distribution in the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation (Argentina): Implications for the analysis of fine-grained depositional systems. Sedimentary Geology, 454, p.106460.

Paz, M., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Desjardins, P.R., Notta, R., Tomassini, F.G., Carmona, N.B. and Minisini, D., 2022. Organic-rich, fine-grained contourites in an epicontinental basin: the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation, Argentina. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 142, p.105757.

Campetella, D.M., Rodriguez, M., Ponce, J.J., Carmona, N.B., Parada, M.N., Canale, N. and Irastorza, A., 2022. Análisis icnológico e implicancias paleoambientales de las formaciones Sierra Chacaicó y Los Molles en el área de Arroyo Lapa, Cuenca Neuquina, Argentina.

Check out her recent interview! (in Spanish)

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Luc Chabanole

Associate at MLT Aikins, Regina, Saskatchewan

After completing my undergraduate degree in Geological Sciences at the University of Regina, I worked for two years in rare earth element exploration. In 2012 I returned to school, completing my Master’s at the University of Saskatchewan under the supervision of Dr. Luis Buatois in 2015.

M.Sc. thesis: Sedimentology, ichnology, and stratigraphic architecture of the upper Devonian-lower Mississippian Bakken Formation, west-central Saskatchewan.

Supervisors: Dr. Luis A. Buatois

Luc Chabanole -The Bakken Formation of west-central Saskatchewan has been here the whole time

Saskatchewan Geological Society, read more here

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Dr. Sudipta Dasgupta

Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India.

After working for five years as a Senior Geoscientist with Reliance Industries (Navi Mumbai, India), I moved to Saskatchewan to pursue a doctoral degree under the supervision of Dr. Buatois. Once completed, I worked as a Research Associate for a year with Dr. Jenni Scott at Mount Royal University (Calgary, Canada) and then a year with Dr. Renata Netto at UNISINOS (São Leopoldo, Brazil). Since 2017 I have been in Mumbai India, working as an Assistant Professor of ichnology, sedimentology, and stratigraphy at the Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay. Currently, I am exploring the Cenozoic Kutch Basin in Gujarat, India, from an ichnological, sedimentological, and stratigraphic viewpoint. Other research interests of mine include the ichnology of stressed depositional settings, process sedimentology, and high-resolution seismic and sequence stratigraphy.

Doctoral research opportunities: Canadian as well as international students with ichnology and sedimentology specializations may feel free to contact me.

Degrees: Ph.D. in Geology¹ (University of Saskatchewan, Canada); M. Tech in Applied Geology² – (IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India); B.Sc. (honours) in Geology (Asutosh College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India).

1- Doctoral Thesis: Ichnology, depositional dynamics, and sequence stratigraphy of the Plio-Plaeistocene Orinoco Delta: Mayaro and Morne L’Enfer formations, southern Trinidad. 

Supervisor: Dr. Luis A. Buatois

2- Master’s of Technology: Earthquake precursors in satellite thermal-infrared images

Supervised by: Dr. Arun Saraf

Publications

    

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Dr. Andrei Ichaso Demianiuk

I completed my undergrad studies in Geological Engineering at the “Universidad Central de Venezuela” in Caracas, Venezuela. Then I worked for almost 2 years at the Venezuelan Foundation of Seismological Research (FUNVISIS) assessing urban geological hazards, vulnerability, and risks using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). I also participated as an assistant in paleoseismic trench investigation and regional geological mapping projects. In January 2014 I began an M.Sc. in Geological Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan focusing on establishing a depositional and sequence stratigraphy model for the Cambrian-Ordovician Deadwood Formation in Saskatchewan´s subsurface using stratigraphy, sedimentology, and ichnology. In late 2015 the project was upgraded into a Ph.D. and the study area was expanded into Alberta, North Dakota, and South Dakota. I started to become fond of ichnology when I learned of its importance in paleoenvironmental reconstruction and stratigraphic analysis and its applications in the oil industry.

During my PhD research, I worked doing sedimentologic, ichnologic, and stratigraphic analyses of the middle Cambrian to Lower Ordovician succession (Basal Sandstone Unit, Earlie Formation, and Deadwood Formation) in subsurface Alberta and Saskatchewan. For the past 10 years, these rocks have gained a lot of interest due to the occurrence of an economic amount of helium concentration. North American Helium (NAH), a company that explores, produces and refines this element in North America, contacted me and offered me the possibility of looking at their new cores recovered in southwestern Saskatchewan. I did facies and iconological analyses of their cores. This led to the discovery of unique facies for the Basal Sandstone Unit and the Earlie Formation, which record a transition from fan deltas to open embayment settings. Trace fossils were key to identifying the variety of sedimentary environments and helped to differentiate subaerial to subaqueous conditions in the fan-delta deposits. This work also led to the discovery of the first Cambrian trilobite fauna collection in Saskatchewan. My collaboration with NAH was highly valued and resulted in a job offer from the company, giving me the possibility to continue exploring and studying this fascinating succession.

Ph.D. thesis: Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and ichnology of the middle Cambrian to Early Ordovician Deadwood Formation in western Canada and the midwestern United States

Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois & Gabriela Mángano

Selected publications:

Handkamer, N.M., Ichaso, A., Pratt, B.R., Mángano, M.G. and Buatois, L.A., 2023. Systematics and biostratigraphy of a new trilobite fauna collected from the subsurface Earlie Formation (Wuliuan Stage, Miaolingian Series, Cambrian) in southwestern Saskatchewan. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 60(9), pp.1307-1326.

Ichaso, A., Buatois, L., and Mángano, M. 2016. Transition from tide- to wave-dominated regimes in a middle Cambrian to Lower Ordovician seaway in southern Saskatchewan: Integrating ichnologic and sedimentologic datasets. Abstract submitted to Ichnia 2016: abstract book (2016): 260-261. UNESCO Geopark Naturtejo/International Ichnological Association, Castelo Branco.

Ichaso, A. 2011. Caracterización geológico-estratigráfica de la Formación Matatere en la región de Siquisique-Santa Inés-Santa Cruz de Bucaral, estados Lara y Falcón, Venezuela. Geos, UCV, 43(2012): 16 + 190 p. in DVD, folder 08.

Urbani, F., Grande, W., Reategui, W., Muñoz, P., Rodríguez, H., Ichaso, A., Mendi, D., and Baquero, M. 2012. Geología de la Ofiolita de Siquisique y unidades sedimentarias asociadas. Región de Siquisique-Mapararí, edos. Lara y Falcón, Venezuela. Boletin Geos 42 (2012):114-117.

   

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Dr. Patricio Desjardins

Regional Geologist, Shell Exploration & Production Company (Texas, U.S.A)

I am a sedimentologist and stratigrapher by background and that is where my passion in geology has been able to flourish. I have a wide experience in clastic and mixed carbonate-siliciclastic systems including a wide range of sedimentary environments, from fluvial to deep water, and everything in between. I strongly believe that subsurface studies need to be anchored to rocks, thus I include most of my work packages in core and outcrop studies. I specialize in the recognition and understanding of geologic controls on hydrocarbon accumulations and well performance enabling high-quality business decisions. I can successfully integrate multiple disciplines across multiple asset and support organizations. I tailor specialist studies to business needs and steer projects toward asset value drivers.

Ph.D. thesis: Sedimentology, Ichnology and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Lower Cambrian Gog Group.

Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois & Gabriela Mángano

Selected publications:

Desjardins, P.R., Buatois, L.A., Pratt, B.R., Mángano, M.G., 2012.  Sedimentological–ichnological model for tide-dominated shelf sandbodies: Lower Cambrian Gog Group of western Canada. Sedimentology 59, 1452–1477

Desjardins, P.R., Buatois, L.A., Pratt, B.R. and Mángano, M.G., 2012. Forced-regressive tidal flats: Response to falling sea level in tide-dominated settings. Journal of Sedimentary Research 82, 149–162

Desjardins, P.R., Mángano, M.G., Buatois, L.A., Pratt, B.R. 2010. Skolithos pipe rock and associated ichnofabrics form the southern Rocky Mountains, Canada: Colonisation trends and environmental controls in an Early Cambrian sand-sheet complex. Lethaia 43, 507–528

Desjardins, P.R., Aguirre, H., 2016. Chapter 7: Sierras Blancas. In: González, G., Desjardins P.R. et al. (eds), Regional Transect of the Vaca Muerta Formation, IAPG, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Desjardins, P.R., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G. 2012. Tidal Flats and Subtidal Sand Bodies. In: Knaust, D. & Bromley, R.G. (Eds.), Trace Fossils as indicators of Sedimentary Environments. Development in Sedimentology 64, 529–561. Elsevier

 

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Dr. Davinia Díez-Canseco

Associate professor, University of Alicante (Spain) 

Davinia is an associate professor at the University of Alicante (Spain) where she teaches Stratigraphy. She did two stays during 2013-2014 with the ichnology research group at the University of Saskatchewan as part of her doctorate which she completed at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid in 2016. She has collaborated with the group since then with a research focus on the sedimentology and ichnology of continental and marginal-marine environments.

Selected publications:

Díez-Canseco, D., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Diaz-Molina, M. & Benito, M.I. 2016. Ichnofauna from coastal meandering channel systems (Upper Cretaceous Tremp Formation, South-Central Pyrenees, Spain): Delineating the fluvial-tidal transition. Journal of Paleontology 90(02):250-268.

Díez-Canseco, D., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Rodriguez, W. & Solorzano, E. 2015. The ichnology of the fluvial-tidal transition: interplay of ecologic and evolutionary controls. Developments in Sedimentology 68:283-321.

Díez-Canseco, D., Arz, J.A., Benito, M.I., Diaz-Molina, M. & Arenillas, I. 2014. Tidal influence in redbeds: A palaeoenvironmental and biochronostratigraphic reconstruction of the Lower Tremp Formation (South-Central Pyrenees, Spain) around the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary. Sedimentary Geology 312:31-49.

   

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Dr. Javier Dorador

Postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Royal Holloway University of London (UK)

I received my Bachelor’s degree in Geology and Master’s in Applied Geology, both of them at the University of Granada (Spain). Then, in 2017 I finished my PhD at the University of Granada (Spain), supervised by Prof. Francisco J. Rodríguez-Tovar. It dealt with the palaeoenvironmental analysis along the Quaternary based on the ichnological analysis of cores from marine sediments. During this period I conducted various stays, including MARUM, (Germany); the University of Saskatchewan (Canada); Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie (Basel, Switzerland) and Statoil ASA (Norway) for training.

After that, I worked for six months as a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology at the University of Granada, but nowadays, I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences from the Royal Holloway University of London (United Kingdom). My position is funded by a Newton International Fellowship by The Royal Society and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship by the European Commission.

My research line is focused on the ichnological analysis in cores to analyze palaeoenvironmental changes and reservoir properties, with a special interest in contourite deposits.

During my career, I have published 21 research papers, most of them in highly ranked journals, and I have presented my research in more than 20 scientific meetings. I have been also involved as an educator for degrees in Geology and Biology, Master’s in Geology, and I have supervised one master’s thesis. I have been also involved in outreach activities, participating in workshops and activities for the general society. Finally, I would like to add that I was awarded the Jordi de Gibert Award (International Ichnological Association) and the Early Career Research Grant (Spanish Palaeontological Association).

Selected publications:

Dorador, J., Rodríguez-Tovar, F.J., 2018. High-resolution image treatment in ichnological core analysis: Initial steps, advances and prospects. Earth-Science Reviews, 177, pp. 226-237.

Dorador, J., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Rodríguez-tovar, F.J., 2019. Ichnology of the Winnipeg Formation, southeast Saskatchewan: a glimpse into the marine infaunal ecology of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Lethaia, 52 (1), pp. 14-30.

Dorador, J., Wetzel, A., Rodríguez-Tovar, F.J., 2016. Zoophycos in deep-sea sediments indicates high and seasonal primary productivity: Ichnology as a proxy in palaeoceanography during glacial-interglacial variations. Terra Nova, 28 (5), pp. 323-328.

  

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Martin Ezequiel Farina

Doctoral Student, Vertebrate Paleontology Lab, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

I am PhD student (in Biological Science) at the Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. In addition to my studies, I serve as a Teacher Assistant in the Department of Ecology, Genetics, and Evolution at the same university. My research is conducted at the Laboratorio de Paleontología de Vertebrados in the Instituto de Estudios Andinos “Don Pablo Groeber” (IDEAN-CONICET), located in Buenos Aires City, Argentina. I focus on the paleoecology of birds, using fossil tracks as a reference. My geographical focus spans Western Gondwana, covering sites from the Cretaceous period to the present. Currently, I am working on neoichnological studies of vertebrates to understand the relationship between behavior and sediment support, and I am involved in reconstructing avian paleocommunities and studying their changes over time, all through the lens of fossil tracks.

In addition to my research, I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Communication of Science and Technology from the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires. I regularly give talks on various topics and collaborate with different media outlets in Argentina, including print, television, and theater. Outside of my academic pursuits, I am passionate about birdwatching, sports, and history. These are subjects that I not only enjoy in my leisure time but also write articles about.

Doctoral Thesis: Paleobiological and paleoecological interpretations based on Mesozoic and Cenozoic avian and avian-like footprints from Gondwana

Supervisors: Dr. Verónica Krapovickas and Dr. Claudia Marsicano

Selected publications:

Juan, M., Vera, R.B., Farina, M.E. and Krapovickas, V., 2025. Small mammal trackways from the Neogene Vinchina Basin, Argentina: Insights into Xenarthra (Dasypodidae), Notoungulata (Typotheria), and Rodentia (Caviomorpha). Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 152, p.105297.

Krapovickas, V; Vera, R.B.; Farina; M.E.; Fernandez Piena, L.R.; Koelewijnd, A. A new vertebrate ichnological association sheds light into the small metatherian record of the Middle Miocene in South America. Enviado a Journal of South American Earth Sciences el 31 de mayo de 2023.

Valencia, G.L.; Buatois, L.A.; Mángano, M.G.; Krapovickas, V.; Farina, M.E. Trace fossils and fluvial architecture from the Miocene Vinchina Formation, Vinchina Basin, western Argentina: Assessing colonization in channel and overbank deposits. Enviado a revisión en PALAIOS en agosto de 2023.
Graglia, Hugo Oscar. O. & Farina, Martin. E. (2022). Lista de aves de la Reserva Natural Laguna de Rocha (Esteban Echeverría, Provincia de Buenos Aires). Revista Científica y Técnica Agropecuaria, Agroindustrial y Ambiental, 9(2).

Leardi, Juan M.; Farina, Martin E.; Gómez, Raúl O.; Marsicano, Claudia A. (2022). Paleoherpetologia en la Universidad de Buenos Aires: pasado, presente y futuro. Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina, 22(1), 226-234.

Selected publications:

Lindblad, K., Moreno-Bernal, J., McKellar, R., & Vélez, M.I.. (2022). The Northern Crocodile: first report of Borealosuchus (Eusuchia: Crocodylia) from Saskatchewan’s Lower Ravenscrag Formation (earliest Paleocene) with implications for biogeography. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 59. 10.1139/cjes-2022-0010.

Lindblad. K, Moreno-Bernal. J, McKellar. R, & Vélez. M. (2021) The first occurrence of Borealosuchus (Crocodyliformes: Eusuchia) from the Lower Ravenscrag Formation (Earliest Paleocene) of Saskatchewan: implications for range and diversity. GAC-MAC 2021 Annual Conference: London, Canada. Conference presentation.

  

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Dean Meek

M.Sc., GIS and Database Specialist 

I am currently working as a GIS and Database Specialist at the Mineral Exploration Research Centre, Laurentian University.  As part of the $104 million Metal Earth research program, I am working to create and maintain databases for the large volumes of geological data created as a result of this project, followed by visualizing this data in traditional maps and 3-dimensional models.  In my spare time, I am working on publishing results from my MSc thesis regarding the design and implementation of an ichnology database.

M.Sc. thesis: Data processing methodologies to investigate associations between depositional environments and trace fossil occurrence

Supervisors: Dr. Bruce Eglington & Dr. Luis Buatois​

Selected publications:

Meek, D.M., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G. and Eglington, B.M., 2023. Increased habitat segregation at the dawn of the Phanerozoic revealed by correspondence analysis of bioturbation. Scientific Reports, 13(1), p.22328.

Mángano, M.G., Buatois, L.A., MacNaughton, R.B., Jensen, S., Gougeon, R., Marcos, A., Meek, D., Piñuela, L. and García-Ramos, J.C., 2022. The Psammichnites-Taphrhelminthopsis conundrum: Implications for calibrating the Cambrian explosion. Earth-Science Reviews, 227, p.103971.

Meek, D.M., Eglington, B.M., Buatois, L.A. and Mángano, M.G., 2020. IchnoDB: Structure and importance of an ichnology database. Ichnos, 28(1), pp.1-11.

  

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Gabriel Mendoza

Researcher at Servico Geológico Colombiano (Colombia)

I am Gabriel Mendoza. The object of my study is to build a reservoir model of the Ciénaga de Oro Formation in the San Jacinto Fold Belt Basin-Columbia (SJFB), taking into account the ichnology, sedimentology, and sequence stratigraphy. My MSc research is under the supervision of DR. Luis Buatois and Gabriela Mángano.

During my undergraduate at the Universidad Industrial de Santander, I studied the Ciénaga de Oro Formation in the SJFB deepening in trace fossils and sedimentary structures. During my work at the Colombia Institute of Petroleum, I developed the facies maps of the Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene, the unification of facies in the Cretaceous-Oligocene, as well as the spatial model distribution of the siliciclastics environments in the Eocene and transition to the Oligocene. All studies previously mentioned were performed in the Sinú-San Jacinto Fold Belt Basin, in the project Pre-Neogene evaluation.

I am also working on the Caribbean offshore project of the Colombian Petroleum Institute, a project in which I am part of the description of piston cores, cores, and paleoenvironmental analysis of the offshore basin of the Colombian Caribbean.

Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois and Dr. Gabriela Mángano

Selected publications:

Mendoza-Rodríguez, G., Buatois, L.A., Rincón-Martínez, D., Mángano, M.G. and Baumgartner-Mora, C., 2020. The armored burrow Nummipera eocenica from the upper Eocene San Jacinto Formation, Colombia: morphology and paleoenvironmental implications. Ichnos, 27(2), pp.81-91.

Mendoza, G., Buatois, L. A., Mángano, M. G., & Rincón, D. A. (2016). Nummipera eocenica, A trace fossil from the upper Eocene San Jacinto formation, Colombia: morphology and palaeoenvironmental implications. In Fourth International Congress on Ichnology, Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal.

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Jack Milligan

M.Sc., Ichnology Research Assistant, University of Saskatchewan

For my master’s research, I’m studying the depositional and ichnological context of osteic bioerosion trace fossils on ceratopsian bones from the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Frenchman Formation, in southwestern Saskatchewan. The aim of this study is to describe trace fossils on ceratopsian bones created by continental invertebrates and ancient plant roots and the associated sedimentary environments to understand their implications for taphonomy, palaeoecology, and sequence stratigraphy. My research is being supervised by Dr. Luis Buatois, Dr. Gabriela Mángano, and Dr. Emily Bamforth.

During my undergraduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan, I argued that the use of alpha and beta palaeobiodiversity statistics of microvertebrate localities from the Frenchman Formation can be used as a method for identifying habitat heterogeneity within a larger paleoenvironmental framework. I worked for the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Nature from 2019 to 2021 on a collaborative project to relocate and study the sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of lost Triceratops quarries collected in southwest Saskatchewan since the 1920s.

In addition to my master’s research, I am helping to describe the depositional environments and bioerosion trace fossils on turtle shell material from the Paleocene Salamanca Formation of the Río Chico Group, San Jorge Basin, southern Chubut province, Patagonia, Argentina. I’m part of a joint team that includes paleontologists and geologists from the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, Argentina.

M.Sc. thesis: The Ichnological and Depositional Context of Bioeroded Triceratops Bones from the Maastricthian Frenchman Formation of Southern Saskatchewan, Canada

Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois, Dr. Gabriela Mángano, and Dr. Emily Bamforth

Selected publications:

Milligan, J. R., Bamforth, E. L., Mángano, M. G., & Buatois, L. A. (2025). Taphonomic history of a dinosaur skeleton from the upper Cretaceous Frenchman Formation, Canada: insights from ancient rhizoetchings and invertebrate bioerosion trace fossils. Ichnos, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10420940.2025.2449656 

Milligan, J., & Bamforth, E. (2021) Palaeobiodiversity statistics and paleoenvironmental implications of microvertebrate localities from the Frenchman Formation (Late Cretaceous, Upper Maastrichtian,) of Saskatchewan, Canada. Murray, A. M., Street, H., & Holmes, R. B. (2021). CSVP 2021 abstracts. Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.18435/vamp29374. Poster Presentation.

  

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Dr. Nic Minter

Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth

I am interested in the co-evolution between life and the planet. My research is at the interface among paleontology, sedimentology and behavioural ecology; focusing on organism-sediment interactions, both when they were alive (trace fossils) and dead (taphonomy), and what they can tell us about ecosystems through time and their responses to major events in the history of life on Earth. These include evolutionary radiations, colonization events and mass extinctions. My research involves field, laboratory, collections, and database studies; studying organism-sediment interactions ranging from half a billion years old through to conducting actualistic experiments and observations with modern animals, and across deep marine to desert environments. I have been lucky enough to work on world-renowned geological localities, including the Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, the Carboniferous of Atlantic Canada, the Permian Robledo Mountains of New Mexico, the Triassic Petrified Forest National Park of Arizona, and the Cretaceous Dinosaur Coast of Korea.

I graduated from the University of Bristol with a BSc in Geology and Biology in 2003 before going on to complete a PhD in continental ichnology in 2007 from the same institution. I undertook postdoctoral research at the University of Bristol from 2009-2010 and then at the University of Saskatchewan from 2010-2012. After my postdoctoral research at the University of Saskatchewan, I took up a permanent lectureship at the University of Portsmouth in 2013 where I am now a Senior Lecturer in Geoscience in the School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences Portsmouth.

My research at the University of Saskatchewan was funded by a Government of Canada Post-doctoral Research Fellowship under the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Programme, and then an NSERC Engage Grant. I worked with Luis and Gabriela on the trace fossil record of the colonization of land and developed methods for quantifying eco-space occupation and ecosystem engineering using trace fossils. We continue to work together on several projects, including applying these methods to other important events in the history of life on Earth; as well as experimental work on the effects of transport on the preservation of soft-bodied organisms and allochthonous trace-producers.

Selected publications:

Bath Enright OG, Minter NJ, Sumner EJ, Mángano MG & Buatois LA (2021) Flume experiments reveal flows in the Burgess Shale can sample and transport organisms across substantial distances. Communications Earth and Environment 2, 104.

Buatois LA, Mángano MG, Minter NJ, Zhou K, Wisshak M, Wilson MA, Olea R (2020) Quantifying ecospace utilization and ecosystem engineering during the early Phanerozoic – the role of bioturbation and bioerosion. Science Advances 6, eabb0618.

Minter NJ, Buatois LA, Mángano MG, Davies NS, Gibling MR, MacNaughton RB & Labandeira CC (2017) Early bursts of diversification defined the faunal colonization of land. Nature Ecology and Evolution 1, 0175.

Minter NJ, Mángano MG & Caron J-B (2012) Skimming the surface with Burgess Shale arthropod locomotion. Proceeding of the Royal Society B. 279, 1613-1620.

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Dr. Ali Mirza

Visiting Lecturer at the Center of Humanistic Inquiry and Department of History, Amherst College

I work on the history and philosophy of paleontology & ichnology, along with their interaction with studies of living organisms. More specifically, I look at the development of “fossil psychology” over the past two centuries, tracking how thinking about the minds, habits, and behaviors of ancient animals has helped scientists understand the morphology, ecology, and evolutionary trends exhibited by animal life on Earth. One example is how Edward Hitchcock’s studies of fossil footprints influenced Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in the early 19th century. Another is how contemporary research on modern burrows is commonly, and unexpectedly, guided by fossil research. From such case studies, I not only attempt to determine how scientists adapt methods to answer difficult problems about the deep past but also help identify and revive forgotten methods that may be suitable for contemporary application. 

Postdoctoral Supervisors: Dr. Gabriela Mángano and Dr. Luis Buatois

Doctoral Thesis: Living in Stone: The History and Philosophy of Behavior, Morphology, and Traces in the Fossil Record

Degrees: Ph.D. History and Philosophy of Science (Indiana University Bloomington); M.A. Philosophy (University of South Florida); B.S. Industrial Engineering (University of South Florida)

Selected publications:

Winsberg, Eric, and Ali Mirza. “Considerations from the philosophy of simulation.” The Routledge Handbook of Scientific Realism (2017): 250-260

Mirza, Ali. “Of chimeras, harmony, and kintsugi:  towards a historicist epistemology of paleontological reconstruction, theory-change, and exploring heuristics,” Perspectives on Science 30, 4 (2022): 657-695

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Dr. Diego F. Muñoz

Conicet Assistant Researcher at the National University of Córdoba

I finished my Geology degree (2009) at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (Argentina) studying the taphonomy of Lower Ordovician marine siliciclastic environments shell beds from NW Argentina, supervised by Dr. B. G. Waisfeld. Afterward, I worked for private oil companies until 2012. Between 2012 and 2016 I studied, together with my supervisor Dr. J. L. Benedetto, the systematics, diversity, biostratigraphy, taphonomy, and palaeobiogeography of Lower Ordovician brachiopods, mainly from NW Argentina. During my Ph.D., I became interested in the diverse trace fossils found in the Central Andean Basin and I decided to turn my scientific life into Ichnology. This is why now I’m studying marine siliciclastic trace fossils, particularly cruzianids, supervised by Dr. M. G. Mángano and B. G. Waisfeld. I am particularly interested in the relationship between the occurrences between trace fossils and their probable producers, and to study the ichnological record from a paleobiological perspective.

Postdoctoral Supervisors: Dr. M. Gabriela Mángano and Dr. Beatriz G. Waisfeld

Degrees: PhD (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba)¹; Geologist (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba)².

1- Doctoral Thesis: Biostratigraphy, taphonomy, and diversity of Lower Ordovician brachiopods from the Cordillera Oriental, northwestern Argentina. (in Spanish). Supervised by: Dr. Juan Luis Benedetto and Dr. Beatriz G. Waisfeld.

2- Undergraduate Thesis: Taphonomic analysis in upper Tremadocian deposits, Quebrada de Humacha, Huacalera area, Cordillera Oriental, Jujuy Province. (in Spanish). Supervised by: Dr. Beatriz G. Waisfeld and Dr. Juan Luis Benedetto.

Selected publications:

Muñoz, D.F., Mángano M.G, Buatois, L.A. Unravelling Phanerozoic evolution of radial to rosette trace fossils. Lethaia. In press. DOI: 10.1111/let.12317

Muñoz, D.F., Mángano M.G, Buatois, L.A. Gyrophyllites cristinae isp. nov. from Lower Ordovician shallow-marine deposits of northwest Argentina. Ichnos. In press. DOI: 10.1080/10420940.2018.1538983

Muñoz, D.F., Benedetto, J.L. The eoorthid brachiopod Apheoorthina in the Lower Ordovician of NW Argentina and the dispersal pathways along western Gondwana. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 2016, 61 (3): 633-644. DOI: 10.4202/app.00241.2016

     

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Dr. Maximilliano Paz

Visiting Assistant Professor, Oberlin College, Oberlin, United States

I completed my Licenciatura degree with an orientation in Geology of Hydrocarbons at Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Argentina. My Ph.D. involved the sedimentological, ichnological, and geochemical analysis of the Vaca Muerta Formation black shales of Argentina, with a focus on understanding bottom water oxygenation levels. My interests are in ichnology applied to sedimentary environment analysis, fine-grained sedimentology, and geochemical redox proxies.

Doctoral Thesis: Ichnology, sedimentary facies, sequence stratigraphy, and geochemistry of black shales from the Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation, Neuquén Basin, Argentina

Supervisors: Dr. M. Gabriela Mángano and Dr. Luis Buatois

Selected publications:

Paz, M., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Desjardins, P.R., Rodríguez, M.N., Ponce, J.J., Minisini, D., Tomassini, F.G., Pereira, E., Carmona, N.B. and Fantín, M., 2023. Basin circulation affecting sediment partitioning in a fine-grained carbonate–siliciclastic, subaqueous clinoform: the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation, Neuquén Basin, Argentina. Journal of the Geological Society, 180(2).

Paz, M., Mángano, M.G., Buatois, L.A., Desjardins, P.R., Notta, R., Tomassini, F.G. and Carmona, N.B., 2022. Ichnology of muddy shallow-water contourites from the upper Jurassic–lower Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation, Argentina: implications for trace-fossil models. Palaios, 37(5), pp.201-218.

Paz, M., Ponce, J.J., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Carmona, N.B. and Pereira, E. (submitted). Bottomset and foreset sedimentary processes in the mixed carbonate-siliciclastic Upper Jurassic Vaca Muerta Formation, Picún Leufú area, Argentina. Sedimentology.

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Dr. Elizabeth Schoenthal

PhD, Alumni at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada

The purpose of my research was to study animal-substrate interactions within fjord environments to further expand our understanding of the biological and physical processes that characterize Canadian Arctic fjords. The project used an integrative approach of two data sets: recent biogenic structures on the sea floor (based on seafloor photographs) and ichnofabrics of Holocene glaciomarine sediment core samples. The results of this study contribute to refining ideas on ichnological fjord models, setting up an agenda for future research in ichnology of high-latitude depositional systems.

Master’s thesis: The ichnology of Holocene glaciomarine sediments: Maktak, Coronation, and North Pangnirtung, Baffin Island, Canada

Bachelors thesis: The ichnology of the Guandacol Formation, Late Carboniferous from western Argentina

Supervisors: Dr. M. Gabriela Mángano and Dr. Luis Buatois

Selected publications:

Schatz, E.R., Mángano, M.G., Aitken, A., Buatois, L.A. 2013. Response of benthos to stress factors in Holocene Arctic fjord settings: Maktak, Coronation and North Pangnirtung Fjords, Baffin Island, Canada. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 386:652-668.

Schatz, E.R., Aitken, A., and Mángano, M.G. 2011. Ichnology of Glaciomarine Sediments: Maktak, Coronation and North Pangnirtung Fjords, Baffin Island, Canada. Proceedings #2338 GeoHydro2011 conference. Joint Meeting of the Canadian Quaternary Association and the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists. August 28-31, 2011. Quebec City, Quebec.

Schatz, E.R., Mángano, M.G., Buatois, L.A., and Limarino, C.O. 2011. Life in the Late Paleozoic ice age: trace fossils from glacially influenced deposits in a Late Carboniferous fjord of western Argentina. Journal of Paleontology, 85(3):502-518.